Día De Los Muertos - Day Of The Dead Festival 2019 Westward Ho!

The planning was a nightmare! It was meant to be held on Friday 25th October. Due to a big ridge of low pressure the forecast was heavy rain and high winds...The forecast was dead right! We moved it from Friday to Saturday to find the good forecast had changed. One more move to Sunday as a big high pressure system was due in, it was a perfect call. After torrential rains and local flooding, by Sunday, it was just wonderful weather for it, still, calm, dry and clear. 

We started at Seafield House (Spooky House) where Tamsin Ball was outside singing, this was the second year Tamsin has been with us, always professional, a treat to the ears and eyes. She is just amazing, her voice, up lighting of the house, fire from Merlin Cadogan, Peter Sawyer and the newly formed Fire Faeries Elizabeth Phillips and Gina Rossi, together just created a magical atmosphere as a crowd assembled in front of the house.

The atmosphere was electric and thanks to Chris Connolly from CC Caravan Motor Home Servicing & Repair so were we! He supplied his van with generator to provide power to the site, without Chris the PA, smoke machine and lights would have no power. Without use of the house from Rob Braddick we wouldn't have this amazing back drop, just a perfect way to start Día de los Muertos in Westward Ho! It's this kind of help and support that makes these festivals easier to organize and gets everyone together.

There was always something going on, this was a great way to assemble the procession, no one minds waiting a bit with this quality of entertainment. The procession this year was lead by Merlin and Nigel Hewlett-Beech with his drums, Nigel kindly filled in last minute as our drummers and mariachi band couldn't re schedule to the new date. 

It was a sea of colour in the crowd, the people of Westward Ho! are really embracing the Day Of The Dead and getting what it means. It's not scary, not Halloween, it's a celebration of life and a way to remember our ancestors, our roots, what made us what we are today. Remember them with love, happiness and joy. It's also a Festival that is accepted by the Churches too (Our first year was blessed by both Westward Ho! Baptist Church and Holy Trinity Church).

The procession left Seafield House heading to the village, a massive thanks to Jon Saunders, Megan Saunders, Andrew Cross and Helen Cross who marshaled the route to keep us on track and safe. They also had the collection buckets out to help finance this magical event. Once the procession reached the village we had stalls, street food, more juggling, street music from Sophie Littlejohns and Shannon Amy Lewis (this pair are village legends and really know how to work a crowd with their musical powers and charm) and some fire performances too. We also had Garry and Chris, the Bodstone Boys singing on the roof of the Fairway Buoy keeping the vibe in the village electric, fun, happy and just a great place to be. They are really good musicians and really fun to watch as you can see how much fun they have performing.

We aimed to finish the evening with Fireworks over the beach at 8.30pm. Due to the change of dates we knew it would be cutting it fine getting clear beach as the tide receded, but hadn't factored in the HUGE scour at the bottom of the slip way! We had beach but no way of getting SB Pyrotechnics vehicle onto the beach as the water was over 1m deep all around it! After an extra hour of waiting, enough had drained away for Steve to give it a go, the water was well over the bottom of the door as he went through and the trailer literally floated across with the fireworks in! What a star, nothing stops Steve Barnes. 

Due to the late fireworks The Bodstone Boys were very happy to sing a bit longer before Tamsin took over for her 2nd set of the night. Once more we had fireworks going off on the beach with Tamsin singing...This is a soul filling experience that is just perfect for this festival. Both Tamsin Ball and SB Pyrotechnics have confirmed already for Sunday 25th October 2020 our 4th annual Day Of The Dead!

What an event this turned out to be with many memories made for many people. It's events like this that bond people to a place, it's the glue that sticks them into the fabric of it. Add this event to the already superb businesses in the village and you had great choice, brilliant pubs, restaurants, coffee shops and shops, most of which were open all night.

I do organize all of the events in the village on my own but have to give a massive thank you and to let Harris Sawyer know I was very proud of him. My 10 year old helped me from 9am setting up barriers, areas, PA's, fire stations, first aid provisions, smoke, fire kit, signs, food areas, marquees then he helped in the event and did his first fire sword at Seafield House. He was there till 11.30pm helping pack it all down and was a genuine help and didn't moan once. You are a little star and an asset to a Father.

Here he is abusing the back stage pass! He sat on the speaker and didn't stop staring at Tamsin Ball, when I asked him why he was staring so much he replied "I am mesmerized by her voice, she is so good"...Sweet.

So that was Day Of The Dead 2019, a battle with Mother Nature in weather and tides but with her help we got there in the end. Lots of memories, lots of fun, brilliant atmosphere and a lot of life in once sleepy Westward Ho!....NO MORE! The village is thriving and a wonderful place to be. When are you going to #visitwestwardho next?

It all happened because of-
The vision and organisation from Peter Sawyer.
Seafield House, Fairway Buoy supplied by Rob Braddick.
Electric at the house by Chris Connolly.
Tamsin Ball's superb voice.
The ever awesome Merlin Cadogan.
Nigel Hewlett-Beech and his drums.
Megan and Jon Saunders marshals and bucket collection.
Andrew and Helen Cross marshals and bucket collection.
Sophie Little johns and Shannon Amy Lewis musical genesis's.
Garry and Chris The Bodstone Boys.
Harris Sawyer and his never ending energy helping.
Plus everyone else that added some sparkle into this event.
The community of Westward Ho! for embracing this event.
Mandy for a donation towards the event that was humbling.
Penny Creative Media for sponsoring the event.
All the businesses of Westward Ho! that together make these events possible.
Peter Soper from TDC that helps with the licence.
TDC Legal team who are always supportive of what we do.
Steve barnes from SB Pyrotechnics, a true superhero and legend. 
Traders at the event and our wonderful street food vendors.

Keep an eye on this website for all our upcoming events, we do 14 a year and they just keep getting bigger and better. 
Next ones are the WHAAM Variety Performance show, Christmas Light Switch on, Westward Ho! Ho! Ho! Night and the Sandy Santa Run plus New Year Days Dip.